Tag: 00096

Stop Being So Sensitive

Think Progress’ headline lays it out starkly: Climate Change May Flip 40% of Earth’s Major Ecosystems This Century.The article questions whether or not species will be able to adapt to such quick change and an important point to remember is that we are one of those species.Â …Â A species projected to add two more billion to its ranks by 2050.

You don’t have to rush to the Sahara, but if you ever wanted to see tundra, don’t take your time about it.

[Map from Climatic Change journal via Think Progress via /r/collapse]
[Related: Get To Know Your Biomes]

January 12, 2012
A Day Without Buses in 1974

Soon after Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, the agency recruited a small army of photographers to document the state of the natural environment in the United States.Â The DOCUMERICA project collected over 20,000 photographs between 1971-1977Â and along the way captured the state of American life itself, driving home the connection between the two.

The National Archives has digitized 15,000 of these images, selections of which can be found on Flickr or in their entirety through the Archival Research Catalog.

Your 70’s time machine awaits you…

(A D.C. parking lot during a bus strike in 1974 – Jim Pickerell/NARA)

[The Atlantic via Boing Boing]

December 1, 2011
United States Ecoregions

For states that are united, there sure are a lot of ways to break them down.Â Most, however, are nothing much to look at compared with how nature’s divisions sketch out…

Click on the map to find out what all those numbers mean on Wikipedia, or if you want to go straight to the source, the EPA’s Western Ecology Division has some beautiful pdfs available for download, including state-level maps.

Honorable mention goes to the World Wildlife Fund’s list of U.S. ecoregions.Â Always good to have a second source.

May 24, 2011
Get to Know Your Biomes

Looking to move to the other side of the world but don’t want to leave behind your favorite plants, animals and soil organisms?Â Well, you don’t have to!Â The ecosystem you know and love has counterparts (biomes) all over the globe…

Warning: Does not apply to economic, political and cultural climates.

[Map from Wikipedia]
[Related: Terrestrial Ecozone, Ecozones]

May 17, 2011